Child of Life: OneShots
by Dowski
Summary: A place to post a few oneshots that occur after my story, Child of Life.
1. The Fallen

Hey guys! I know it's been a while, sorry about that! This is written in response to The Last Stand Of Courage by NovelistOfTheSky. I'm hoping to write a few more oneshots to go with our stories, as well as finish my actual story.

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><p>Alex stood next to a tree miles away from what he was watching, although he was able to see quite clearly. He watched as Tai, one of his last remaining allies, started removing the jacket of his suit. He knew that Tai was not planning on coming back from this battle at all. Alex shook his head, and cursed his job as protector of the core. As the last Child of Virtue, although he could hardly call Tai a child any more, Tai held the Crest of Courage and was one of the last pillars still protecting the Digital World. When Alex heard that Tai came down with cancer, he was shocked. As much as he wished he could help, Alex had yet to be able to help digidestined with the disease. Somehow, the fact that the body itself was the cause prevented Alex's Crest of Life from helping. While Alex wished he could help Tai here as well, he knew it was futile. Alex had 'died' several years ago during an attack on Primary Village. He had in fact been killed, but he woke up several weeks later back on his bed in the Isle of Beginnings. Cursing his luck again, Alex had kept a low profile from that point on, working in the shadows to continue protecting the worlds. He felt bad for deceiving the remaining digidestined, but the feeling passed with each of their deaths. Logan, Shelby, Ryan and Ryo had all passed on as well, leaving him alone as the last member of the Children of Creation, as well as one of the last digital beings in this world. He sighed loudly, gaining the attention of his digimon partner. NeoFlamedramon padded over and put a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder.<p>

"Are you sure you can't do anything to help?" Neo asked his partner, although he already knew the answer. Both Alex's heart as well as Fanglongmon knew that the final original digidestined was going to fall in this battle, possibly before Tai himself knew it. Alex turned his anger at himself. In order to continue the balance of the digital world, Alex had collected the powers of the crests from his allies as they passed. He hated having to take away a piece of their being, even if they no longer needed it. Looking down, Alex noticed he had clenched his fist so tightly, he was drawing blood with his nails. He released his fist, and sighed again.

"I truly wish I could Neo, but we both know that this is destined to happen. Not to mention I don't have the power to help anyways. Who would've thought that my powers were so tied with the lives of the original digidestined? As they passed on and I collected their powers, my own powers began to fail. Is it so wrong to hope that I may finally pass myself, after Tai?" Alex questioned his partner, pain evident in his voice. "I would never have guessed that being the Child of Life would be such a curse. Even Brendan has passed on, and there are very few people left who know the truth about me and who I can call a friend." Alex just shook his head, hearing a rumble start from the distance. The fighting had begun, and it would be over almost as quickly. Neo turned to stare at the fight as well, his eyes growing distant. It had been a long time since Neo had fought, and though he wouldn't say anything to Alex, they both knew he wanted to help his own comrade very badly. Alex grabbed Neo's arm, and tuned out the fighting, unable to watch. "Let me know when it's over, Neo." Alex said. Neo nodded his head, and Alex closed his eyes as well, feeling tears welling up.

Several minutes passed, and Neo suddenly grabbed Alex around his waist, taking off into the air with him. Alex opened his eyes and stared at what remained of the battlefield. He was surprised at the amount of damage Wargreymon had pulled off, though it was not totally unexpected. Alex saw some digital particles in the air, and smiled farewell to the remains of an old friend. He nodded to Neo, who left to finish off the remains of the army. His smile quickly faded as he turned his attention to the fallen man lying on the ground. Alex knelt over the original holder of Courage, and held back tears.

"Goodbye Tai. You will be missed greatly," Alex said, holding his hand over Tai's chest. Deciding to make this quick, he focused his power, and quickly drew the Crest of Courage out, before it had a chance to fade. Closing his eyes, he caused the crest to shrink into a small orb of power about the size of a marble. Sighing, he did to the crest what he did with the others, and placed in on his digivice. His digivice absorbed the power, and he felt his own powers come rushing back. Blinking at the sudden rush of power, he turned to Neo in the distance. Overcome with a sudden feeling, he rushed to his partner's side. Alex inwardly cursed at the latest events, knowing that he was very alone in this world, and it would continue for a while. However, he had a purpose, as well as his partner to keep his company, and he would support the digital world as long as it truly needed him.


	2. Confusion

Very short one-shot I wrote in response to NovelistoftheSky's Chapter 'Temptation' in his story, Virus of the Shadow.

I breathed heavily as I ran to the center of the park. In the middle of it was a small building. With Neo directly behind me, I raised my digivice up and the door flew open, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Running through into the darkness, my feet suddenly felt no resistance as I fell down a large hole in the ground, although I had expected this. While falling, I took some time to think. I had suddenly returned to the Isle of Beginnings of my own accord, with something was bugging me badly. All my readings of the digital world were distorted, and none of the information was viable. According to my digivice, File Island was a mess of data, server was 30 feet higher, and the Isle was completely cut off. I was very confused as to what was happening, and struggled to think what could be causing this. Ever since I had received an artifact from Will and we had taken care of OmegaStrikemon, nothing seemed to be right with my readings. I had brought the artifact into my study long ago, but could only get basic power readings from it. It seemed that it was very new, yet the power dated back to one of the origins of the digital world, which made no sense. Quickly approaching the end of my little fall, I felt myself being grabbed from behind, as Neo spread his wings to slow my descent. I had decided to take a quick shortcut to the core of the world, and had taken the direct route. The park in the middle of the Isle always connected to the top of the core. Down below was a light; however it was not the warm glow I was used to. Finally reaching the core, Neo quickly deposited me on the side. I looked in fear at the core, as it was not the normal golden-white glow, but had taken on a blood-red tone. Neo grabbed my shoulder as I choked out, "What is going on?"


	3. Rebirth

Hey guys! I apologize for how long this took! I've basically lost a lot of my inspiration to write currently. This is another response chapter, but I really like this. Make sure to check out NovelistoftheSky's new story, and keep reading!

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><p>I blinked my eyes several times and leaned back from my work bench. I had been staring at my 'little project' for several hours, and decided to take a small break. I had no idea what was causing the disturbances in the digital world, and hoped that examining some of my older projects would clear my head. Pushing the materials to the side, I set my digivice out on the bench, and stared at it for a moment. It resembled a small smart phone with a touch screen. It had served its purpose well so far, and it was one of the last reminders of what I had been through in the digital world. A link to my friends I had grown up with, and one of the only homes I remembered. Quickly shoving aside the past memories that threatened to come up, I called out to my digivice.<p>

"Quantum Processing!"

In response, my digivice began to glow a bright white for a moment, before turning into a small, holographic screen that floated up. Reaching eye level, the screen split into four screens, with one in front, two angled on each of the sides, and one down below serving as a keyboard. Reaching out, I flicked the middle screen until it displayed the storage. Reaching out, I flicked one item downwards, and sat back as the keyboard screen flattened out on my desk and watched as something emerged from it. Grabbing the item, I pulled it the rest of the way out, and set it on my bench. Flicking my hand to the right, I watched as my digivice collapsed back into its solid form. I sighed a bit, as I pondered my digivice. I was debating remodeling the Isle of Beginnings, and decided that a newer digivice wouldn't be a bad idea as well. Maybe something simple or something resembling those new iPhones the Real World was so obsessed over. Turning my thoughts back to the item I pulled out, I manipulated a large magnifying glass above my desk and began to examine it. The item was one of the Artifacts that Will Murphy had used to seal the latest threat to the Digital World away. I looked closely at some of the engravings, and raised an eyebrow in interest. I turned to the side.

"Hey Neo, you should look at this," I said to my partner. He was sitting in the lounge chair in the room (put there by his request so he could be around me so I could work). He put down the book he was reading and sauntered over. Putting his hands on my shoulder, he glanced through the magnifying glass.

"Hmm, the engravings on here are made up of small portions of Digicode?" He asked me. I gave him a side glance and nodded.

"Exactly! It looks like some sort of programming, but this Digicode is written in the Ancient Language. It may take me a while to translate it, but as far as I can tell, these can be used as kind of power amplifiers." Neo gave me a look.

"What sort of amplifiers?" He asked me. I grabbed a piece of scrap from my other project, and held it up to the Artifact. Muttering something under my breath, we both watched as the scrap turned into energy and was absorbed. Neo raised his eyebrows at me. I turned towards him to explain.

"It looks like these can serve several functions, but one of them is the ability to take in energy, increase it, and release it at a later date." I muttered under my breath again, and a line of energy shot out of the Artifact, and burned a black line on the wall behind me. "Using that bit of core energy I was working on, I was able to use it to store the power, and then release it." I stopped and thought about what I had just discovered. My eyes widened in horror, and I shot up. Neo stumbled back.

"Sorry Neo, I need to run someplace quick to check on something." I grabbed my digivice again, and returned it to its true form. I quickly checked on some things with it, and used it to open a portal in mid-air. Shoving the Artifact under my arm, I began to step through the portal. Neo grabbed my arm before I was able to get all the way through.

"Alex, where are you going?" he asked me worriedly. I smiled at him quickly, and got loose of his grip.

"I just thought of something, and if I'm right… Well, we may be in a bit of trouble. Don't worry, I just need to talk to someone quickly, and show him this." I held up the Artifact, and Neo nodded at me.

"I'll be waiting then." I quickly hugged him, and ran through the portal. Experiencing the slightly dizzying sensation of one of my shoddy portals, I took a moment to get organized after it dumped me on the ground in the Real World. Leaving the portal open for a moment, I looked at my surroundings. It looked like I was in the middle of a park or forest somewhere.

"Shoot, I don't think this is where…" I paused, hearing some shuffling in the brush around me. I narrowed my eyes, as I felt a malicious presence near me. "Hello? Who's there? Come out, and we can ta…." I was quickly cut off as a black figure rushed me, but I could do nothing but gasp as something pierced through my stomach. I looked down in shock, and saw a pitch black sword coming out of my abdomen. I felt the figure pull it back out, and I could almost hear the smirk on his face. In shock, and with my vision fading, I grabbed the figure. We both fell back into the portal that I had yet to close, but I realized this was exactly what it wanted. I knew that I could not allow this being into my inner study; I used all my will and felt as the portal shifted in destination enough that we would still land on the Isle. Dumping us out on the grass, I blacked out as the figure got up and began to walk away.

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><p>I slowly opened my eyes again, and set up, crying out in pain. Looking down at my stomach, I swore slightly at the amount of blood. Being in the human world so many times in the last few months had done more changes to my body than I had realized. It had been a long time since I had seen my own blood, let alone start to bleed to death. Ignoring the pain, I glanced around. I had been deposited in the middle of the park in the Isle. I saw several damaged buildings, and a small amount of smoke rising in the distance. I felt my heart cry out, and realized that NeoFlamedramon had fought and lost. Without me there, he was most likely unable to change his forme, or fight to his fullest. As much as I wanted to go to him, I knew I had to prevent the intruder from doing too much damage to my home. I got up, and began running to the large building in the middle of my home, ignoring the pain and blood coming from my stomach. I scoffed slightly at myself and my arrogance at thinking no one would be able to get to me at my own home. Running up the steps, I ran into the main lobby of the building. I had no need to open the door, as it was torn off the hinges. A flash of red light burst into the sky, lighting up the figure in the other room. I realized that it had both the Artifact, as well as some of the pieces of the Core that I had taken to work with. My eyes clouded over in rage, and I pulled out my digivice and ran into the room.<p>

"Oh no you don't, you bastard!" I cried out. However, before I was able to do anything, the figure was suddenly in front of me. I flew back against the wall as his first slammed into my face, and his sword knocked my digivice from my hand, breaking it. We struggled a bit, and the being shoved me farther into the building. Wrapping its hand around my throat, I chocked out, "Damn you… Why you would do this, I thought…." I couldn't finish that thought as I slowly blacked out again due to the lack of oxygen. I felt the hand release me with the last of my consciousness, and then it was gone.

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><p>I felt pain all over as I woke up after passing out for the second time that day. I slowly open and closed my fist. I heard someone shoving their way towards me, and heard a gasp. I opened my eyes, only to see the Bearer of Courage, Tai Kamiya, standing before me. I said something to him. He knelt down, and pressed his shirt to my wound. I muttered something back, but I couldn't think clearly.<p>

"What happened?" He asked me, and I finally snapped back to the conversation. As he talked, I noticed how much he seemed to have changed since the last time I saw him. Or maybe not as much as I thought, as it seemed that thing did something to me that was messing with my memory.

"Will gave me one of the Artifacts we used to defeat Alpha Strikemon. I was studying it. I think I found something...I was in the real world, about to deliver it to someone but, "I took a slow breath, wondering how he would handle this next bit." Someone killed me." Tai cocked an eyebrow at me, and I almost felt like smirking in response.

"What?" Tai asked me, confused. I gave a small internal sigh.

"I'm Digital Tai. I'm like Gennai ('Although a thousand times better' I thought to myself). If a Digimon dies, his data is reborn in Primary village. No different with me, I wake up here." I inhaled sharply again as pain coursed through my body again. I knew I had little time left before I died here. Tai frowned.

"Wait, someone attacked you? Why?" Tai winced as he pressed the shirt with more pressure. I grunted a bit in pain, but wished he wouldn't sully his shirt with my blood. I didn't deserve this right now.

"When I woke up here...the Artifact was gone. I think someone stole it." I coughed harshly, and felt blood in my lungs. Tai frowned, but before he could ask anything, I cut him off again.

"I've no idea what it could be used for." I shut my eyes for a moment before opening them again, and I could feel my life draining from myself. I hated lying to him, but the Crest Chips had to be kept secret from everyone.

"So you've been here since then?" Tai asked quietly. He had problems understanding what could happen to me, and I didn't blame him. I struggled to hold myself together.

"No. When I...woke up, I came here. Something attacked. Something fast and powerful. It was just a blur, but I heard an explosion. Next thing I knew, I was down on the floor in the reception, hurt. I walked here and found something completely black searching the room. Next thing I know, you're here." My eyes rolled shut, and I let out a slow breath.

"Whatever attacked its fast. Whatever it took, we need to get it back. I think it took something I was working on. Something dangerous." I couldn't keep this up. My data was struggling to break free, and I wanted to be free of this pain.

"Alex? Stay wake, Alex!" Tai cried out, looking on the verge of panic.

"I'll be at the large house near the lake." I said weakly, letting him know of the place where it took place. My Rebirth. My head tilted to the side and I burst into hundreds of small rainbow colored pieces of data.

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><p>I floated in the data stream, letting my data be repaired once again. I knew that once I came back, I would have lots of things I would need to do.<p>

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><p>Alright guys! That's it for now! I need to write another chapter that was requested of me, and hopefully that will be out soon! Anyways, two sites to check out:<br>Our Wiki: networksofdestiny(dot)wikia(dot)com  
>Our DeviantArt Group Page: networks-of-destiny(dot)deviantart(dot)com

Thanks everyone, and keep reading!  
>~Dowski<p> 


	4. Blackest Knight

Oh wow. It's been so long. Sorry. Anyways, this takes place during NovelistoftheSky's story Virus of the Shadow. Read that. This is kind of a spoiler chapter, so the identity of the Black Knight has yet to be reveiled.

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><p>I stared up at the slowly darkening sky. I knew that he was coming this way and I had little choice but to fight him. Neo stood by my side as I paced around, feeling the corruption approaching. I gripped my digivice in anger. If I had paid the slightest bit of attention to any of the signs, I may have realized to the full extent what was happening. I glared at the Royal Knights who were drawing closer from the other side of the Isle. I was going to prevent them from confronting the black knight, even if it meant the destruction of the Isle… or even myself. Taking a shaky breath, I turned towards Neo as we started sprinting towards the park in the center of the Isle.<p>

"I need you to hold the Royal Knights off for a while. Stall them, fight them, distract them with whatever you need to do, I'm going to find a way to trap HIM here so they can't attack us. Neo nodded his head, gave my hand a quick squeeze for luck, and then flew off to the east, where the Royal Knights were approaching. Turning towards the west, I focused on the route the Black Knight was coming from. Hoping that he wouldn't notice what I was doing, I closed my eyes and reached out with my crest. Bending the powers of the Isle under my control, I forced a makeshift passage between the Isle and the knight. I was trying to shorten up the distance, so Neo would be able to return and help me fight the corrupted knight. Letting out another shaky breath, I released my powers, having established a shortcut in the distance. Realizing that my time had been cut short for preparation, I turned to my digivice. However, a clash from the east drew my attention. Neo must have been unable to stall the Royal Knights with just words, and there was now a giant wall of ice in the distance. I winced, hoping Neo would be alright, and continued what I was doing. I pulled up a map of the Isle using my digivice, looking at the possible things I could do. Pulling up the perimeter of the Isle of Beginnings, I started inscribing runes along the edges on the map in my digivice. With every rune I completed on my digivice, a glow appeared in the distance corresponding to the location on the map before quickly fading. I quickly inscribed several passages into the coding of the Isle, preparing for several possible outcomes to what may happen today. A sudden flapping of wings drew my attention back to the arrival of Neo. He looked a little tired, but no worse for wear.

"How did it go?" I asked him. He leaned up against me, suddenly looking wearier than before. I shot him a worried look, but he just shook his head and straightened up. Stretching a bit, he opened his muzzle to talk.

"I froze them a bit, and hopefully they won't be here any time soon," he responded with a grunt. He turned his head towards the west. "He's almost here, Alex. Are you ready to face him?"

"I don't quite know yet, Neo. I mean… I don't know how this is going to turn out. This is going to be one of our worst fights, mainly because I don't want to hurt him accidentally and -"

"I don't think you could hurt me if you even tried, Child of Life," a husky voice said, with a sneer. Neo and I whipped around, spotting a knight in dark black armor facing us. The armor had lots of plates and joints, and finishing it off was a helmet with two large metal horns adorning it. On his back was a torn up cape, with a dirtied symbol on it, representing what he once stood for. In his hand, he held a long sword, with a slight blue hue to it. It looked large enough that it would require two hands, yet the knight was able to wield it with one. His gave off an aura of evil and corruption, and just looking at him made me shudder at what he was. I gripped my digivice and spoke back.

"You may think that, but it doesn't mean that I won't try. I hope you realize that I don't plan on letting you get out of here. Ever." With that I held up my digivice to the air, and several of the symbols I had etched around the Isle began to glow. A field of white light quickly encompassed the Isle, forming a glowing dome around the area. The knight looked around, seeming somewhat surprised. Taking his sword, he flung an energy slash towards the dome. It landed with a loud crash, but the dome was unscathed. I smirked at him.

"That dome is tied to the energy around the core and from myself. The only way it's coming down is if I take it down, or I die. Now, let's get this started. NEO!" Flinging out my hand, Neo quickly took flight and transformed. Gaining shining armor and a large sword, Paladin Forme quickly charged at the black knight with his sword, only to be parried by the knight. Pushing the swords to the side, Neo landed a shot on the knight's helmet with his fist. The sound reverberated through the field. The knight backed up, and tilted his helmet so it was straight again, and started speaking.

"You would think the Protectors of the Core of the Digital World would pack more of a punch. Heh, that barely even left a scratch." Grabbing his sword with both hands, the knight dashed forward and quickly slashed at Neo. Neo parried the attacks as well as he could, but even I could tell he was being pushed back. I gritted my teeth in anger. This battle was going nowhere, and I could tell that he was toying with us. I was about to spit out a reply, but felt something at the edge of my awareness. I looked to the distance, and noticed several digimon trying to get into the Isle. The Royal Knights had finally arrived. I paid them no mind however, as another attack hit the force field around the Isle in the opposite direction. Whipping around, I noticed that several of the digidestined where present, and were trying to get into the Isle as well. I realized that our time had finally been cut short, and I didn't want either of the groups to witness us fighting. The Royal Knights because I didn't want them to see me fighting and getting an impression that I may be on their side, and the Digidestined because they may not all agree with my methods. My thoughts were once again interrupted as Neo went flying past me, once again in his normal form, as well as panting in exhaustion. I was worried then. I never knew the Black Knight would be able to fight this well. His powers were even greater than I realized.. I gripped my digivice, knowing I had no other choice...

"Neo!" I called out, "We're out of time! We need to lock him away!" Neo nodded his head at me, knowing what I was thinking. I suppose it was fighting fire with fire at this point. I threw my digivice in the air, and watched as it turned into a hovering screen. Slamming down my hand, I cried out. "Unlock! Ruin Forme!" Dark chains, made of my power, circled around Neo. In a flash of dark light, the chains broke them apart. Coming out from beneath the chains was Neo's Ruin Forme. Covered with glowing silver chains, this forme took full advantage of the powers of Darkness and the powers that are granted to Virus types. He gained longer claws, and blood red irises. Knowing time was of the essence, I quickly ran towards the center of the park, Neo dragging the shocked Knight along. Bracing myself, Neo threw the knight into the ground and flew up in the air. Raising a clawed paw, he cried out in a gravelly voice, "Final Chapter!" A red and gold ball of light appeared in his hands, and he threw it down at the knight. While the knight had just enough time to brace himself, he wasn't expecting the sheer force behind the attack, and was pushed down farther into the ground. He let out a brief cry, as the ground underneath and around him suddenly collapsed and he and I both fell down a massive hole. While he had the force of Neo's attack pushing him down, I had Neo himself swoop down to catch me, ending his forme change at the same time. Slowing our decent, he deposited me on the bottom of the core room, and suddenly devolved into NeoVeemon. I looked at him quickly in worry, but a cry of pain and anger drew my attention to the center of the room. A massive ball of what appeared to be light (but even I wasn't sure what the core truly was made of. Liquid metal, glass, stardust perhaps) was hanging over a pit that led to nowhere. On the top of the core, the Black Knight was smashed against in, Final Chapter still attempting to push him down. He looked at me in anger.

"Is this what you wanted to do? Fry me better an attack and the digital world's core? This will never work! Pathetic," he sneered at me. I looked up at him with a look of sorrow.

"I'm really sorry." I muttered back, and let go of a barrier I had been maintaining for a long time. A sudden flash of light occurred around the core, and the knight let out a shriek of horror as he began to sink into the core.

"Alex! What are you doing! The core could burn me up! Do you really want to try and kill me? Argh," he cried out in pain as the core began searing the flesh remaining under his armor. I looked away in agony, using this as a truly last resort. The knight suddenly went silent as he went all the way into the core. I looked at my old friend, watching as his movements ceased, and his eyes went dark.

"It's done," I said, and collapsed to the ground as darkness swallowed my vision.

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><p>***7 days later***<p>

I stared despondently as the digidestined stood outside the barrier. I had woken up a day and a half after the attack, to find the Royal Knights gone, and the Digidestined still pounding against the barrier. Leading the 'attack' on the barrier was Sora. Her red hair matched his temper, and she yelled and yelled until even I was surprised she didn't lose her voice. The only person really trying to stop her was Tai, knowing exactly why I had to do what I did. I stared tiredly at her, hating the fact she was so mad at me. Trace was also on the other side of the barrier, pounding on it until it looked like his knuckles would bleed. I almost wished that Will was on either side of the barrier as well, and chuckled at the thought. Tai gave me another sheepish grin (the third one that day), as Sora began yelling at me again. I gave a half smile back.

"ALEX DOWSKI! YOU HAD BETTER LET ME IN THERE!" she screamed at me through the barrier. Biyomon was right beside her, pecking away at the barrier as well. I slouched down my shoulders, and inhaled a deep breath. Several of the digidestined had wanted entrance to 'talk' to me about my methods, as well as demanding to see the Knight. I had told them time and time again that I was not about to lower this barrier until I was sure the threat has passed, not to mention I wasn't positive if I would maintain the barrier around the core if I disturbed any of the barriers. As I exhaled, Neo strode up beside me, putting a supporting hand on my shoulder. He gave me a smile as I turned back towards Sora.

"Sora, I'm really sorry. But you know that I can't let you in here. I know that you're pissed about my actions, but I can at least tell you he is alive. The corruption has to stay contained though, so I cannot let anyone near the core. It took most of my energy to do this; I don't want to fight you guys now too." I had hoped this that little speech might work this time, but no such luck was coming my way. Sora opened her mouth to respond, but an ominous 'CRACK' rang through the air.

Widening my eyes, I whipped around, seeing a crack appearing in the outer barrier of the Isle, with several more appearing throughout the architecture and ground of the Isle as well. Falling to my knees in horror, I gasped as my powers rushed out of me. The barrier around the Isle shattered with a loud crash, and several smaller building came down as an earthquake shook the area. With a sudden realization, I had enough foresight to place a barrier around the digidestined and push it back, as a giant flash of light came from underground and a figure shot into the air, several shining shards coming up behind him. A shaking under the ground occurred right after, and I could literally FEEL as the core ripped apart beneath the Isle. An explosion of power caused it to fly out in multiple shards, and I gasped as one struck me through the chest. Neo cried out as well, but he dissolved into digital particle before he reached me, the power of our bond fading before he could help me. Feeling the cold smirk on the knight's face, I had enough time to see the look of horror in the eyes of the digidestined behind me. I gave them a small smile, and closed my eyes one last time, darkness engulfing me, feeling my last contingency plan coming into action. A breath left me, and I knew nothing.

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><p>Tai<p>

I couldn't believe it. Alex was gone. Truly gone. I knew this because Neo had disappeared. Not that he was deleted; he just fell apart once that shard of glowing stone ripped through his chest. I was glad that there was no blood at least, but his body was still there. That also surprised me, as before, Alex dissolved as well. I clenched my teeth, and glared at my former friend, the now evil Black Knight. The barrier around us faded from view, and he just laughed as he touched down. The second his foot touched the ground of the Isle, it began to dissolve in a blur of lights. Spreading out from the center, the buildings and other featured of Alex's Isle of Beginnings disappeared. I heard gasps from the others as they watched, and the knight just began to laugh.

"How could you? He was one of your friends!" I shouted at the Knight, watching as he turning his gaze towards me. He just grinned. I made a first in anger, and was about to run up to punch him, when another person beat me to it. Sora was standing in front of the knight, having smacked him in the face. A brief look of shock crossed his face, until he smirked at her too.

"Oh, that was kind of kinky, Sora. Want to hit me again?" He laughed as she blushed, and she quickly retreated back to us. He continued to laugh, until a distinct ringing sound filled the air. The knight buckled over in pain, having been kicked in the one place no man wanted to get hit. Even I winced at that, knowing the feeling from several years of playing sports and not always wearing protection. I stared at who was brave enough to come up behind him, seeing three figure I did not recognize with their digimon as well. The middle figure, and the only female in the group, was the one who kicked the knight. Trace gasped in recognition besides me.

"That's impossible! I thought that they were trapped in different dimensions!" Trace turned towards me, and saw my confusion. "It's Alex's old team, Shelby, Logan and Ryan!" He cried out. I remembered Alex once telling me about them, and his previous adventures as well. His friends, who were each stuck in a different world, unable to interact with other. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. Shelby gave a nasty glare at the Knight, and moved over to Alex's body. She knelt down, and the three of them closed their eyes briefly. Opening them again, Shelby quickly grabbed the shard and pulled in from his chest. As soon as it was removed, Alex dissolved into digital particles. She turned back towards the Knight.

"You just pissed off the wrong girl."


	5. Razing New York!

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait and everything! New oneshot chapter, and author notes are at the end. Read and Review please!

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><p>The boy moved downwards seemingly in slow motion. She wasn't quite sure where she was, but it was somewhere up high. She slowly turned her head and looked down from where she was. All she saw was a gaping mouth and a beam of light heading towards her. She opened her mouth in a wordless scream.<p>

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><p>Kari shot up in her bed. She panted slightly; sweat beading up on her forehead. She struggled to remember the entire dream that woke her up, but all she could remember was a flash of light and a boy running towards her. Small snores drew her attention to the other bed in the room. TK slept heavily with the covers of his sheets tangled around him. He had complained earlier that the hotel beds didn't agree with him. She gave a small chuckle at the sight of Patamon sleeping on the pillow above TK's head. Gatomon was sleeping curled up by Kari's feet. As Kari shook herself of her remaining tiredness, she glanced at the clock and saw it was already 7:40 in the morning. She decided to get up to enjoy the rest of their time in New York. She and TK were visiting their friend Mimi in New York. Although Mimi had offered to lend the guest room to TK and share her own room with Kari, they politely refused. They already had a hotel room reserved for the two of them (with Tai being absolutely positive that they at least have separate beds, since he couldn't get them to get separate rooms). They had already been in New York for three days with Mimi, and had a few days left on their trip. Today, TK was planning of visiting a few sites he wanted to with Mimi as a guide, and was Kari going to a few places separately. She found out pretty early in the trip that TK was nervous about visiting the Empire State Building, and she giggled at the fact he had an apparent fear of heights (somewhat ironic since he flew pretty high up with Pegasusmon). She was going to visit the Empire State Building today with a tour group instead. TK groaned a bit and tossed in his sleep, and Kari looked at him fondly. She was really enjoying the time she spent so far with him and Mimi in New York. She frowned a bit, feeling a bit of an ominous feeling, but she figured it was just something from the strange dream she had. She shrugged a bit, and got out of bed. Stretching, she grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. She started the shower up, letting it heat up, and went back into the room. Gatomon woke up when she started the water, and Kari greeted her partner.<p>

"Good morning Gatomon, did you sleep well?" Kari asked, with Gatomon rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"As well as I can on this mattress. I'll be so glad when we get back home so I can take a nice cat nap on your bed," she answered with a purr. Kari chuckled a bit, and petted her head.

"Can you wake up TK? I'm going to hop in the shower quickly," Kari told her partner, and turned around. Gatomon gave her an affirmative, and as Kari closed the bathroom door, she heard a load thump and a groan from TK.

"Gatomon, why in the world would you push me out of bed?" TK exclaimed, growled out in a sleepy voice. Kari laughed a bit as she got ready for the day.

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><p>Several hours later (and a revenge splash of water at Gatomon by TK), the two digidestined were at the entrance to the hotel. TK turned towards Kari and smiled at her.<p>

"Okay, once I finished meeting with Mimi, I'll wait for you at Central Park once you are done visiting the Empire State Building," TK said. Kari nodded her head, and Gatomon climbed into her backpack.

"Hurry up Kari; I want to go to the top of this state building. I just love heights," Gatomon said, grinning at TK. TK got a sour look on his face and blushed a bit, causing Kari to giggle.

"S-shut up, Gatomon! I told you I just don't care to visit it," he turned away, getting even redder. Kari gave him a quick hug from behind, and then started running towards the bus stop before Gatomon could embarrass him further.

"Message me on your D-Terminal once you're at the park TK! See you in a few hours!" Kari shouted, turning the corner before hearing his response. She was enjoying the freedom of New York, both figuratively and literally. She was mainly liking the freedom from her big brother looking over her all the time (though he did call and message her a LOT). She smiled as Gatomon peaked out of her backpack as she reached the bus stop. She purchased a ticket for this tour stop yesterday, and was going to enjoy this as much as she could. Reaching the stop, there was a dozen other people standing around too, mostly in small groups. She slowed down, suddenly a bit nervous since she was alone on this tour. Stopping by the group, she loitered around a bit waiting for the bus as well. As she stepped backwards, she hit someone and stumbled a bit. She quickly turned around to apologize.  
>"I am so sorry," she exclaimed, looking to make sure she didn't hurt him or make him drop anything. Standing behind her was a boy, a little older than her. He looked to be about 17 or so, and had dark blonde-brown hair, and hazel eyes. She noticed they caught the light differently, and looked almost gold at times. He had dark shadows under his eyes, but it looked more like he was just not used to being up this early in the day, rather than just being tired. He dusted off his white jacket that had a golden yellow hood, and smiled at her.<p>

"Oh, it's no problem. I'm just a little clumsy myself and wasn't looking where I was going," he said with a yawn. He gave her a smile and she quickly returned it. When he didn't immediately move away, Kari decided to talk to him a bit. He seemed very friendly and she usually could tell things like that right away. She made some small talk with him, and found out he was visiting for a day or two, just passing through and enjoying the sites by himself. He was going to visit the Empire State Building as well, and she asked if he would want to stick around with her in the group. He quickly agreed.

"Oh, by the way I'm Kari Kamiya, it's nice to meet you," she said, putting out her hand for him to shake. He took it with a smile.

"It's very nice to meet you Kari, I'm Alex, Alex Dowski," he responded. The tour bus pulled up at this time, and they all boarded. Sitting down, Kari put her bag on the floor. They engaged in some small talk, and Alex commented on how great her English was after finding out she was from Japan. He spoke a little Japanese to her as well, and she laughed at his horrible accent. At that moment, Gatomon got a little cramped in the bag and moved a bit. Unfortunately, Alex noticed this, and decided to comment on it.

"Um, Kari… I think your bag just moved. Do you, do you have something in there?" Alex asked, a little cautious. Kari grimaced a bit and looked around. Most of the other people on the tour bus had gone to the top of the bus to listen to the guide talk about the sites on the way, but both she and Alex decided to sit below to talk. She leaned over and opened up her bag, and Gatomon quickly stuck her head out. Alex raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. Gatomon gave Kari a sheepish look, and turned to Alex.

"Um, hi. I'm Gatomon. I'm a…" Gatomon started, but Alex quickly interrupted.

"A digimon, yes I know. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, and shook her paw. Gatomon and Kari both looked surprised at first, though Mimi had told them that there were a few digidestined in America. Kari wondered if Alex was one himself, and quickly asked him.

"Yeah, I am." He placed his hand in his own backpack for a moment, and after a slight hesitation, pulled out his own digivice. It resembled one of the old models, and Kari's eyes shot up in surprise. Alex let out a small chuckle at that. "I'm surprised we're both digidestined, too. This is somewhat serendipitous. My partner is back at the hotel right now. He's a bit too out of the ordinary for me to take him everywhere."

"What digimon is he?" Kari asked with a smile.

"Well he's a…"

"Everyone, we've reached the Empire State Building! Please prepare to depart for the tour inside the building," the tour guide said over the bus intercom. Alex and Kari looked up in shock, surprised they were there already. Alex noticed that the people were coming down the aisle towards them, and with a quickly muttered apology, shoved Gatomon back in Kari's pack and zipped it back up. Gatomon let out a small snarl but quickly realized why he did that and quieted down. Kari smiled in thanks, and they both got up to get off.

"We can talk more about you-know-what later," Alex said with a small smile and a wink, placing his digivice back in his pocket. Kari nodded in agreement, and they went inside. They both admired the inside of the building, and were greeted right away. They were ushered into a room where they watched a video of the completion of the tower, and then went up to the 86th floor observation room. They both gasped at the sight. It offered an amazing view of all of New York, and Kari immediately took out her camera for pictures. She got a few of the scenes, as well as a candid or two of Alex. She managed to find someone to take a picture of her and Alex as well. About that time, Kari received a message from TK that he was at Central Park, and would wait for her when she was done. She messaged him back that it shouldn't be too much longer, and that she may invite a new friend as well. She closed her D-Terminal with a smile, happy with how the day was going. The was some commotion, and the guide came over asking if anyone would want to go up to the 102nd floor observation deck for an extra fee. So far, no one had wanted to, and she and Alex were the only ones left to ask. Alex looked at her with a smile.

"I think that'd be great," he said with a smile, and quickly handed over the fee for both of them.

"Alright, very good. Do you two plan of staying with the group after this, or was this as far as you were going to go? If you want to stay for a bit, you are welcome to. The view is amazing from the higher floors as well," the guide explained. Kari quickly asked Alex if he wanted to come to Central Park with her and TK afterwards, and Alex nodded his head in consent. The guide smiled at the pair, and sent them up to the 102nd floor with a quick good bye. Alone at the top of the Empire State Building, Kari let Gatomon out of her bag, and the three of them stared out at the city and started to talk again.

"So, Alex, where are you from?" Kari asked. They had talked about where she was from, but not him. Alex looked out at the city and a sad smile was on his face.

"I'm from a small town in Wisconsin. I grew up there with my mom and my close friends. It's been so long since I've been there though, it's hard to remember." Kari looked at him with a small frown.

"How long has it been since you were home?" she asked. His shoulders slumped and he looked sad.

"I've been home for a while, but I haven't been back there for almost 10 years." Kari gasped at this and Gatomon looked concerned.

"But, how is that possible?" she asked in shock, but before Alex had a chance to respond, a rumble shook through the building. They could hear cries rising from the street below, and Alex's gaze hardened.

"Damn, I was right," he said in a low voice. Kari quickly scanned the city to see what happened, and both she and Gatomon let out a cry of shock as they stared where Central Park was. Standing in the middle of the wreckage of the park was a large creature. A large, purple monster with black plating on it stood on its 6 legs, roaring in a loud cry. It was huge, taking up almost the entire park, and it seemed to be giving off data in large quantities. It flowed off the beast, while the creature flickered like white snow on a TV. Screaming of terror came from all over the city, and the beast let off a blast of energy that decimated several large blocks from where it stood. Kari whipped out her D-Terminal and started to message TK, hoping to hear from him, and fearful for his safety.

"Come on TK… Please, please answer!" Kari cried out, tears starting to fall from her eyes. She collapsed to the floor, Gatomon trying to comfort her. She felt Alex come up behind her, and looked up at him with teary eyes. His gazed was hardened and he didn't look at her when he spoke.

"I'm sorry Kari, he's gone. I-I should have tried to do something earlier. That beast is Armageddemon. But it shouldn't be here, and definitely not this large." Alex's voiced cracked a bit as he saw the destruction wrought by the beast.

"You, you knew this thing was coming," Gatomon said in an accusing voice. It wasn't a question, and Alex nodded his head.

"I could feel something was wrong here. This beast managed to cross to this time and place somehow. Armageddemon shouldn't even show up for a few years, and it isn't even supposed to be here when it does," Alex tried to explain, gesturing a bit with his hands. Kari struggled to her feet as the beast let off another energy blast, this one almost hitting the building.

"We, we have to do something. Stop this thing. I-we…" Kari tried to find the words, but was unable to. Alex supported her, and smiled.

"You're right, Child of Light," he said. Kari gazed at him as he used her digidestined title, and wondered how he knew of her crest. She suddenly gasped out loud as his eyes turned gold, and the room around them was surrounded by light, turning into a golden barrier around the room. A large figure suddenly appeared behind them, and both Gatomon and Kari cringed away, afraid of a threat. Alex just smiled again, turning his now gold eyes on the intruder. The being was a large white digimon, reminiscent of a Flamedramon without armor, and had large white wings with feathers tipped in a gold color. The digimon's eyes were gold as well, and made Kari instantly think of Alex with the kindness and intelligence behind them.

"I should properly introduce myself now, Kari," Alex said, and stood next to the new digimon. He pulled out his digivice and Kari watched as it changed from its older model to one reminiscent of a cell phone made of mainly a large screen. Alex bowed to her, and started talking.

"My name is Alex Dowski, and I am the Child of Life and Creation. This is my partner, NeoFlamedramon," Alex said, rising from his bow. He smiled at her, with a twinkle in his gold eyes, awaiting her reaction. Kari struggled to think, not knowing how he could be a chosen of more than one trait, not to mention traits such as life and creation. She looked at his digimon as well, guessing that he must be an actual evolution of Flamedramon, though not knowing how that could be. The building suddenly rocked again, as Armageddemon blasted straight through the middle of it. She cried out in fear, but was surprised that they were not falling. She glanced over the edge and was amazed that they seemed to be floating, with most of the upper and lower halves of the building being gone. She turned back toward Alex, and found him talking to his digimon.

"I need you to stay here this time Neo, there's too much damage done already," Alex said to his digimon. Neo, she guessed the digimon must go by, glared at his partner.

"Alex, you just woke up from your sleep, and now you're going to do something stupid," the digimon argued with him. Alex just smirked.

"I have two more uses of my higher powers left, and this creature has already destroyed part of New York even though it should not exist here," Kari struggled to keep up, wondering what powers Alex was talking about.

"Alex, what… what are you going to do?" Kari asked tersely. Not sure how this was going to end. New York was already partly destroyed now. She saw a few digimon trying to attack Armageddemon and being destroyed by it. Her heart leapt into her throat as the beast let off another blast that destroyed most of the digimon, including a Togemon. "Mimi…" she called out, and slumped down to the floor again. Alex looked at her in sorrow, and then had Neo help her up. This time, his digimon talked to her.

"You don't have to worry, Child of Light. Alex is going to fix everything," Neo said, trying to reassure her. She pushed him away, suddenly angry.

"What are you talking about?" she cried out. Gatomon clung to her leg, trying to comfort her. "Half the city is gone, everyone is dying! Mimi is probably out there, and TK, Tk is…" she started crying harder than ever. Alex nodded towards Neo, and Kari's eyes snapped up as a window shattered due to NeoFlamedramon. Alex stepped out towards the broken window, passing though the barrier. Kari's eyes widened and she reached her hand out.

"Alex, what are you doing?" she screamed out in shock. He placed one foot out into the air, and smiled at her. He put his hands out in between him and Kari, and she cried out again as he balanced on one foot. Two rings of light formed around his fingers, one on his left ring finger, and one on his right. He pulled the one off his left hand, and crushed it.

"I'm fixing this. Goodbye Kari, I hope we meet each other again in the future. Neo, hold them back until it's over. The barrier will protect you from what I'm going to do." He then leaned back towards open air, and Kari screamed out as he dropped into the open air. Neo held her back and frowned at his partner.

"He's always so melodramatic…" the large digimon sighed.

Alex smirked, hearing the comment even with the air rushing past him. He closed his eyes, feeling the seal he removed release his power. He fell floor after floor, and heard the beast scream out in the background. He then exhaled and then whispered out.

"Destruction." Alex glowed with a white light, and it exploded out from him. Up above, Kari could only watch as Alex turned into a ball of white light, and watched as it grew larger. The energy spread out, and slowly started to destroy the area surrounding it and it descended to the ground. Suddenly, it burst out in a large wave, and Kari covered her eyes and ears as everything turned white and rumbled violently. She could hear the beast as it screamed out in pain, and then everything went quiet. She opened her eyes, and gripped Gatomon in shock. Everything was gone, all of the tower that remained, and the rest of the city was nothing but a hollow hole in the ground. It spread for miles on all directions, and she cried out in horror. Above the wreckage, a large white symbol seemed to be etched against the sky. They were still surrounded by the golden barrier, but she knew that they would no longer be there if it wasn't for that.

"What, what did he do?" she cried out again in shock at the larger digimon.

"Hush," he said to her, a little impatient, "it isn't done with yet. Look there." He pointed up at the symbol in the sky. She watched as it changed from the white, scythe-like symbol, to a golden one, reminding her of both the sun and some kind of flower. As it fully appeared, she heard Alex's voice once more.

"Creation," his voice whispered out. She had to close her eyes once again as a bright flash of light, golden this time, came from the symbol. Bits and pieces of data started to fly around the sky, and Kari watched as they started to fill in the crater. Bit by bit, the city of New York began to reform around her. The barrier around them disappeared as the entire 102nd floor reformed around them. Kari and Gatomon both gazed at the city in awe as the city was rebuilt. Even the destroyed park was reformed back to how it was. Her eyes stared to water as the sound of people, cars and animals came back as well, and the rest of the light faded from the symbol. She felt Neo's hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see him smirking at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her with his own words.

"Goodbye, Child of Light," he said, and another flash of light went off as the symbol disappeared into data. Kari tried to cover her eyes, but the light burned through them, and she clutched her head in pain, hearing something like rushing water, and then nothing.

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><p>Kari blinked back as the sunlight glared in her eyes as she looked over the city. A ringing her phone brought her back to her senses, as she answered the call from TK.<p>

"Kari? It's already been over 30 minutes since you messaged me that you were coming, I was just making sure you were okay," TK said over the phone.

"Yeah, I'm sorry TK; I got distracted by the view. I'll see you soon, alright?" she told him. She talked to him a little bit longer and hung up. She blinked a few more times, wondering how she got so distracted and then raced to the elevator to meet up with TK. As the doors closed, she missed her digivice glowing with a small golden light, as well as the two figures standing around the corner from the elevator.

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><p>"Are they going to be alright, Alex," the larger figure asked, after an unknown amount of time had passed. The smaller one nodded his head. Taking out his digivice, Alex looked at the picture Kari took of the two of them, sad he had deleted all traces of himself from her memory and camera.<p>

"Yeah Neo, it's going to be fine. She won't remember us, and no one in New York will remember Armageddemon either. I gave her a small amount of my power, so she and TK can digivolve to Mega in the near future. I can sense they're going to be fighting something big soon. Her and TK's path is going to be crossing with Willis's soon. And you know how well he's doing with his digimon," Alex said with a chuckle, and then a yawn. Neo took his Alex's arm as he almost fell over.

"Come on Alex, you should get back to sleep," Neo said with a small smile. His partner awoke too early to deal with that out of space and time creature, and Neo wished he didn't have to use so much of his power.

"Yeah, I suppose. A nap sounds good." With that, the two disappeared in a small swirl of data.

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><p>Well, I can honestly say this is probably one of my better chapters written so far. I'm really proud of it. For anyone wondering, this takes place in the Digimon Movie when TK and Kari are visiting New York. In the original movie, they are with Mimi as well, though it doesn't touch on that much in the dub. Anyways, the digivice thing at the end is me trying to explain why TK and Kari are able to digivolve their digimon to Mega form in the movie too. I like to try and make those things make sense. Anyways, I would love reviews on this. Thanks a lot!<p> 


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